"I noticed the car in front of me had a Southlake Carroll High School license plate," Walker said. "I thought it was pretty interesting, and not an hour later, I saw a license plate for Allen High School."

Intrigued, Walker said he started researching how to create custom license plates for Midland High and began working with My Plates, the official custom plates vendor for the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles.

"I was thinking, 'If I were in high school, how cool would it be to have that plate?'" Walker said. "Every school has school pride and Midlanders certainly do."

After a month of working with My Plates, three prototypes and an online survey were created to gain feedback on the designs.

"Everyone has a chance to vote on which design they'd like and make comments on what they like and what they'd like to change," Walker said.

The survey will be available through July 20. Feedback received will be used to draft a final license plate for Midland High, Walker said.

My Plates will then give a plate to the DMV for testing, to ensure it complies with safety regulations, said My Plates spokeswoman Kim Miller Drummond.

If all goes according to plan, Midland High's plate would be presented for approval at the Oct. 11 DMV board meeting, with a release date slated for February 2013.

The basic Midland High plate without name customizations would cost $55 a year, $195 for five years or $295 for 10 years. This would be in addition to the annual $62.75 license plate registration paid annually to Midland County.

"Custom plates are a lot of fun and I really think that students, booster club supporters, alumni and anyone that is proud of Midland High would really dive into getting these plates," said Walker, who'd like to sell 500 the first year.

For every plate sold, Midland High will receive $5.50 from My Plates. Though it hasn't been decided how Midland High will use the proceeds, Walker said it is something that will be decided with the input of Principal Jeff Horner.

"Once we get into that phase we'll figure out if it goes to a certain club or organization, but right now all we know is a portion of the process will go back to Midland High," Walker said.

In addition to promoting school spirit, Walker said the plates will allow his marketing students to focus on promoting them within the community and increasing sales.

"Though I'm doing the initial steps by getting everything set up, this will be a good way to teach the students about marketing strategies in their community and get (Midland High's brand) out in the community," Walker said.

If the process continues as expected, Midland High will be the first high school in West Texas to have custom license plates. Walker said he wouldn't be surprised if Midland High's plates prompted Lee, Odessa and Permian high schools to follow suit.